Thursday, September 11, 2008

As many of us reflect on 9/11, I wanted to share the story about how I came to TSA and what it meant to wear the TSA uniform. In September 2001, I lived in Fairfield, Ohio and was living the rock and roll dream as a musician. My wife was working third shift. When I got out of bed on 9/11, my wife was still sound asleep.

I went through my normal morning routine, making coffee and reading the news on the internet. I pulled up CNN and read a developing story about a plane that had just hit the World Trade Center. The first thing I thought of was the B-25 Bomber Plane that hit the Empire State Building in 1945. I was sure it had to be a similar type of accident.

I turned on the television and saw the World Trade Center tower on fire with giant plumes of smoke pouring out. Nobody quite knew what to make of it, but it was all too apparent what was going on after the second plane hit the south tower. America was under attack.

As I watched the news, my wife slept peacefully. I couldn’t bring myself to wake her. The world she knew when she went to bed that night would never be the same again.

It was hard for me to believe that I was feeling the same things as I had more than ten years earlier when the first Gulf War ground effort began. In 1991, I wore the uniform of a soldier of the United States Army while serving in the Persian Gulf with the 3rd Armored Division.

Thinking back, I remember wishing I was still in the Army so I could do something. In my college political science class, we talked about terrorism coming to America. I knew this was just the beginning and we’d get hit again eventually. So when I read about the formation of TSA, I was intrigued. I jumped at the chance to serve my country again. I proudly wore a new uniform, this time the one of at Transportation Security Officer, and serving again on the frontline to prevent another attack. Many other former military folks joined TSA along with me - today 25 percent of our frontline officers are veterans. Others also jumped at the chance to serve their country. I actually met people that took a pay cut to come work for TSA because the mission and the job meant that much.

The uniforms we wore weren’t the greatest, but we were proud to wear them. They identified us as frontline officers serving in the war against terrorism. Today, at airports around the country, passengers will see the new TSA uniform. I think the blue shirts look better, but most importantly, they better represent the dedication and professionalism of our officers. They also represent the evolution of our agency. The training, experience and nature of an officer's work today are far different than the job of a pre-9/11 "screener."

The uniform and badge are part of a series of changes at TSA, both cultural and operational. Soon, every person on the frontline, both officers and managers, will undergo two full days of revolutionary new training that will continue to change the focus from looking for bad things to looking for bad people. Security isn't better when officers follow a static checklist mentality - it's better when officers use their experience, judgment and training to assess the whole situation and look for the people with intent to do harm - people who might use common, everyday items like drinks or remote control toys converted into IEDs. That's why looking at behavior and other anomalies are so important.

Thinking back to 9/11 and when I joined TSA, I remember how people often said hello and even shook our hands. For the traveling public, it's been seven years without an attack in the U.S., and to many, the rules are now burdensome and our checkpoints are a necessary evil. For officers, it's one day at a time, with some days when you find a gun, a knife, hollowed out shoes, or items in bags that look like plastic explosives or an IED. Things that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, your heart stop, because it's a threat until you can prove it's not one. It happens far more than you think, so when an officer asks to get a better look at you or your bag, know that it's because they want to make sure everything's okay.

Today, at airports around the country, officers on duty at 8:46 a.m. participated in a moment of silence to mark 9/11. The new uniform also carries a reminder of 9/11. If you look closely at the patch on an officer's left shoulder, you’ll see nine stars and eleven stripes behind the eagle. If you look at the eagle’s wing, you will see the Twin Towers. We think about it all the time so passengers can get safely to their destination. Our personal creed is “not on my watch.”

Let me preface my snarky comment with this - I appreciate the service you, and others have provided to our country.

Now, on to the snarky comment:

TWO FULL DAYS OF TRAINING?! Whoopdeedoo. Don't strain yourselves patting each other on the back.

I guess every little bit helps, but please don't brag about something like this. If you (and TPTB) truly believe that continuing "to change the focus from looking for bad things to looking for bad people" is the right thing to do (I happen to believe it is), then spending TWO FULL DAYS is sadly deficient (and par for the course), especially if this turns out to be a one time event for the front-line staff.

I was a senior at Texas A&M, doing homework at the student computing center when I got an AOL Instant Message from one of my friends saying "the pentagon is on fire". I tried logging into any news site I could find, but they were all overloaded. I eventually got to one that showed a picture of the WTC. I IM'ed her back and said, "that's the WTC, not the pentagon, but that's REALLY REALLY bad." She wrote back and said, "no, they're both on fire". I went back to the dorm and turned on Fox News just in time to see the second tower collapse live on TV. I had planned to teach a PPL groundschool that night, which I ultimately cancelled. I just remember spending several days feeling very numb and glued to the TV, it was much like the feeling I had right after our Bonfire tragedy just a couple of years earlier.

At the time, my dad was a 767-300ER Captain for Delta; for awhile I was very concerned about him, because I knew he was on a trip and all I knew at the time was that at least one of the aircraft involved was a 767 and all other details were very sketchy. While I had thought he was flying that morning back to ATL, he wound up getting stuck in South America. I used my calling card and called an emergency number for DL and managed to get patched through to his hotel; I'd never been so glad to talk to my dad before.

After graduation, I went on to serve in the United States Air Force where I proudly wear the uniform today. This has never been the same country, the same world, or the same industry since that day.

I just got in from work about an hour ago. Emotions were high, but it was business as usual. Some passengers commented, others said nothing in regards to the attacks. We had a moment of silence, and we had a visit from administrator Hawley. In all, it was a good day, morale was high, and so was our level of vigilance. I want to thank the public for not using this thread as a means to air your gripes with TSA, and keeping in mind that we really are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again.

Thank you for this post. I myself am remembering every tiny detail of that day... it is all too vivid. huddled with my friends, watching the Tv and seeing the seond plane hit on live telivision. I never thought I would see something like that in my lifetime. I was young and naive. I am proud to be a part of the frontline. God bless everyone on this humbling day.

Bob, thank you for what you're doing to keep us, the American public, safe when we fly. Yes, some of the restrictions are a burden and we certainly don't always understand all of them. Are mistakes made? Certainly. But I realize you and all of your fellow officers are doing the best you can. So thank you again.

I was a legal intern in Washington DC, and had started my position just a few days before 9/11/01. I was working just a few blocks from the Capitol building, and had fellow students in the Capitol building, White House, and many high profile targets in DC. It is surprising that none of us died that day. I am constantly aware that , were it not for the passengers of United 93, many of my fellow interns and I might have been among the victims. I haven't shared my story often in the past 7 years because I have always felt there were others who had a greater need to talk about their experiences.

I am now a BDO, and plan to spend my career in national security, hopefully with TSA.

An open statement to Kip Hawley:I didn't get to meet with you today, as my time after work was burdened with household chores. I just wanted to add a note on the new uniforms; as I looked around at my co-workers today, I couldn't help but notice how damn good these uniforms look! This change was necessary for the morale of our workforce, as often times we are burdened by things that occur and take us down just one step lower. I want to thank the TSA management team for recognizing our efforts and putting forth this uniform, it was much needed, and today was the perfect day for our new look. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

On a day in which we remember those who died in an attack against all of us, I think it is wholly appropriate to celebrate those freedoms that we cherish ... freedom of speech ... freedom of assembly ... freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances ... and so on. And an exercise of those freedoms is certainly one way to celebrate them.

Now I'm all with Bob that there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to express those grievances ... on all days, not just today. And we flirt with that line on this blog quite a bit (which is fine). I have no problem with this item being a little more reserved than usual.

But one can see our free-wheeling dialog (going on full-force in other items) as a celebration of those freedoms that our enemies would choose to take away from us.

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Well said by the anonymous post listing many of the victims of 9/11. I spent the last 20 hours going from group to group and location to location at our airport. I was speaking with the uniformed workforce about Checkpoint Evolution, the new uniforms, then conducting a badging ceremony. Lastly, we all reaffirmed our oath of office.

I lost persons I know in the 9/11 attacks and to me, like so many others, it is much more than a job, it was and still is a call to duty.

Having re-enlisted several times in the military I remember being told by the re-enlisting officer that it was his honor to conduct the re-enlistment. I was on the receiving end so I never fully appreciated that statement then. However, now that I am in a senior management position years later and see people volunteering to reaffirm their oath of office I now understand why they made those statements. Out of several hundred uniformed officers it was amazing to see how many had been at the post since day-1.

In this blog it is nearly a daily event for people to take shots at the agency. Some may be well deserved and we may have persons working who made mistakes, sometimes serious mistakes. But I hope even the harshest critics can understand that so many of those uniformed officers are willing to work less than great hours, endure constant threat based changes, and endure daily testing and yearly recertifications not because it is the only job they can find as some have insinuated in other posts. No, many, a very many do it because they still feel the way they felt after 9/11. It is an honor to serve along side them.

09/11 is still a day of mourning and personal reflection for many in this country, and especially for those who work in TSA. I am glad that the Blog team has chosen to recognize this.

Let those who need to mourn today do so in peace.

09/11/01 was a day of sadness and tragedy for our nation. 09/12/01 was a day of action. TSA has gone through many changes recently, and has many more on the way. Tomorrow, I would like to see us reaffirm our dedication to the public we serve. I think the blog team could certainly lead such an action.

In this blog it is nearly a daily event for people to take shots at the agency. Some may be well deserved and we may have persons working who made mistakes, sometimes serious mistakes. But I hope even the harshest critics can understand that so many of those uniformed officers are willing to work less than great hours, endure constant threat based changes, and endure daily testing and yearly recertifications not because it is the only job they can find as some have insinuated in other posts. No, many, a very many do it because they still feel the way they felt after 9/11. It is an honor to serve along side them.

It is precisely because we care about our country, and about the TSA, that we offer criticism. Let me quote from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture:

"[A coach said] When you're screwing up and nobody's saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up." And that's a lesson that stuck with me my whole life. When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a very bad place to be. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care.

To all TSA Officers, I think it is important that we reaffirm our commitment to the public. Following is the Oath of office that we took on our swearing in ceremonies, they may look like just words but they are ever so important in the work we do.***********************************OathI, [TSO Tom], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

I honestly appreciate the idea behind the creation of the TSA, but the implementation is just horrid.

About 1 week ago(1.5 weeks before the 9/11 anniversary...) I went to NY with my wife, from Chicago.

Can you believe the TSA missed my wifes pepper spray that was on her keychain? How is that possible after 7 years of security checkpoints? It is not small either...about 3 inches long, black, with a red button. IT was attached to her keychain, which if I remembered, was thrown in the bin with other metal items she had on.

We only "remembered" it when the TSA confiscated it on the way back.

In other news, our door-to-door time with taxi -> airport early, waiting in linen to check in, waiting in security, getting in the plane, flying to NY, getting out (no checked bags, mind you!), getting on public transport in NEWARK, and taking 2 trains & walking the rest of the way to our hotel (we stayed outside of NY) took LONGER and was 2x as expensive as just driving there.

I won't be going by airplane next time....even with my fuel inefficient car (~ 20mpg mixed), I'd spend about $250 on fuel roundtrip with $4/gal gas while our tickets were over $200 ea.

Thanks for putting it into perspective. We can only answer for ouselves and for me the mission is important to me. I do my job respectfully and responsibly and I hope I meet the passengers who have had a bad experience and change their minds.

You said it. People have called me unamerican before. I have been called an America Hater. What they don't get....I LOVE America. I LOVE the republic that our forefathers tried to forge. Maybe I shouldn't even say ours, as my own family emigrated here nary 100 years ago, but....

If anyone "radicalized" me. If anyone turned me against the government... then let me name the "terrorists" who so turned me.... John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin. These men wrote with distinction about the powers of government and how we must be ever vigilant to be sure that are not used for ill.

If I have a fault its not hate, its love. I feel like a concerned parent watching his 13 year old start smoking crack and selling her body to anyone with a 10 spot.

This "security addiction" is just that, an addiction. Its draining our resources and making us give up precious liberty for imaginary safety, and that makes me want to cry!

I see articals on "milimeter wave" and all I can think is "whats that costing us?" I mean seriously... as far as I can tell no planes have gone down for nefarious reasons in years!

The ONLY conclusion I can draw is that, nobody is trying. The boogeymen just arn't out there, and there is no way all of this spending is doing anything useful.

We are in a bad economy, its time to cut back, to tighten our belts. My grandmother lived through the great depression, we should be asking people like her what fiscal responsibility means, I am pretty sure it doesn't involved barrels of millimeter wave pork.

Let us also remember the thousands of airport screeners who, through no fault of their own, lost their jobs because of this event. Many of them were not eligible to apply for jobs with the TSA because of the citizenship requirement.

Some of you need to get a grip about how airline security effects the economy.

Airline security helps the economy when people feal secure. When people will go out and fly, people will go to work(not in fear of a plane falling on them), and people don't hide in thier homes waiting to be attacked. Most americans feal secure with air travel as it stands now(if your reading this poles back this up... go yell at them not me... this is seperate from job performance... thats always rated low.)

Some of you who say the 5 billion a year bill for TSA is to much. That is incorrect. If the airlines were charged with security then you would be correct. The airlines lost 13 billion dollars from sep 11and took 7 years to get back on thier feet. The right amount for security would to spend half a billion(if your threat matrix was loose). The government is charged with security and the money impact increases: 11 billion for business interuption, 9.6 billion property, 7.5 billion liabilty, 1.8 billion worker compisation, and $2.5 billion others. My opion is 5 bill is a steal. (You can look up the data and form your own opion.)

With this I would like to also add that I am very happy that your moving away from objects to people. Most of your list of "contraband" has nothing to do with highjacking.

With that note why pay such a high bill for the milimeter wave tech. The threat from finding prohibs does not account for the cost. Pump more money into the BDO program.. a proven "layer". Some of that money could have been spent on more armed agents on board planes "another proven layer" or used to arm more pilots (they only have one accidental discharge on thier record since the start of the program... thats damn good for non law enforcement).

and my rant conts...

"TSA and its employees are not patriots, they represent the exact opposite!"

To question anothers patriotism seems to show the out right wholes in your arguement. Why attack the other party on personal level. If your arguement is sound, then you don't need to talk down to them; it lessons your arguement and makes you look like someone with a tin foil hat.

When consent is given then the 4th don't apply. Don't need a warrant when you give permission. Focus on the freedom of movement. There is some real room for debate there in the courts about that (admistrative search... the courts have been agreeing with the government).

Also, I would like address people who think the air craft is highjack proof becuase of the "secured door" and passengers. I am not going to leave my security just to a door. I broke through many "secured doors" over in Iraqi. Passengers are a good layer of security but come on. Your not always going to have people able or willing to stop plane highjackers (ever been on a plane filled with little girls flying to a out of state soccer game).

Also, I have noticed the arguement that terrorist are not focused on commercial planes any more because there are much easier targets. Remember WE (United States of America) has labled these people terrorist. Al Qaeda has declared war on the United States. Old Bin wrote and read a deleration of war. Why havn't you guys declared war on them? Looks like from reading some of your guy's post that you believe they are just a government myth. I've killed some.. and I can confirm whole hartly that they are real and want to kill YOU. Not trying to fear monger but its the truth.

Thank you for your time..

all this is just my opion

sources:"The Economic Effects of 9/11: A Retrospective Assessment" p. CRS-4. Congressional Research Service

"September 11, the Federal Reserve, and the Financial System

"The Economic Effects of 9/11: A Retrospective Assessment" p. CRS-5. Congressional Research Service

I remember I was working as a Silversmith Apprentice (fancy way of saying I was the dent, ding and buffing guy) when this came on the radio. I have guys in NYC that were stationed with me overseas back in the late 80's. I was taking a dent out of a teapot when I first heard and all I could thin of was what about those guys and all the people in the building. Then the second one hit and I got pretty mad, this could only be by design. Luckily for me, none of my guys were in the towers or were killed in the aftermath, ALL of them had family or friends there. I am deemed a latecomer to TSA (I have only been ehre 4 years), but I have a pride in what I do and I still wear the blue bracelet marking 5 years of remembrance. My heart goes out to all those that relive this every year and all those that have suffered because of this event.

Wow that was a really long list. Actually, I don't feel that it made the blog unreadable- it really made me stop and think. As I scrolled down I reconsidered the scathing 'how long do we have to put up with this?' post... now I'm pretty happy there are TSAs there at the terminal.

I would like to know how much of the taxpayers dollars went into the new uniforms? In this time of shrinking budgets, why spend the money to do a cosmetic change like this? What did this change cost us?

The uniforms came out of our uniform allowance that we did not get this year due to the roll out. TSO's would have gotten the money to replace worn out uniforms anyway so it's not a loss to the taxpayer which includes tsa employees. Just so you know we also care about waste fraud and abuse and the new uniforms don't fit into that category.

I'd really like to know the bloggers personal response to this news article:

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=99941&catid=339

Talk about a loophole in security. I know news is sensationalized, so please tell me how much of this is true. I am a pilot for an airline, and I have had a 10-year background check too. It irritates me to no end the way I and my fellow crewmembers still get treated like the enemy by so many screeners. Are we, or are we not, on the same side here?? Is it not true that we, the crew and our passengers, are in the most immediate danger if something "slips through" security?

Reminds me of the old joke, "What's the difference between a pilot and an Air Traffic Controller?" Answer:"If the pilot screws up, the pilot dies. If the controller screws up, the pilot dies." Not so funny if you think about it in terms of security measures, because then it's not just the pilot, but also his passengers, who die. Not the screener who "missed" whatever it was.

Anonymous said... I'd really like to know the bloggers personal response to this news article: ........................Getting an honest non-spun answer from these people is like asking a politician how they stand on any given question. A lot of noise but no real information.

I'm not sure how I even found this blog or if anyone is still reading it but I had to say something.

I fly a lot and yes the TSA has been an annoyance. I don't have to like something to understand what is needed. We needed to do something.

My only hope is that we are really doing the right things. You work for TSA and i don't, so I have hope that this is doing some good. You are right, we haven't had a similar or any real incident since then but as an outsider, I still wonder.

Are they making constant improvements in technology? Is it really necessary to randomly pat down my 9 and 11 year old kids. Can we move the security area somewhere so we can sit with our family's. I'm guessing those eatery's lost some revenue when all this happened.

No matter how frustrated I get or how inconvenienced I am, I think we need to be grateful for the TSA, our soldiers and this country for the privilege to have the things we do have.

But still, I will be the one with the sour look on my face with my shoes in my hands.

Plenty of us appreciate the daily grind that TSA puts in to keep the travelling public safe. I don't care how many times I'm pulled out of line. If the IRA had executed 9/11, I'd HOPE that Irish Catholic males like myself would be searched without exception.